Jack is a highly experienced industrial relations lawyer, with top tier clients in heavily unionised industries such as mining, manufacturing, construction and tertiary education.
He provides strategic industrial relations advice, develops workplace strategies and negotiates and interprets industrial instruments. Jack regularly appears before the Fair Work Commission, and helps clients resolve collective and individual employee disputes.
Jack is an employment law author for the Law Society Journal NSW.
Key deals
Glencore Coal
Adviser to Glencore Coal on a range of operational and legally significant matters including significant workplace restructuring and long term industrial relations planning and strategy. Jack advised a number of Glencore sites in its response to an orchestrated industrial campaign across its Hunter Valley mines in NSW. Jack is a trusted adviser to the most senior management in Australia.
Oaky Creek Coal
Principal adviser to Oaky Creek Coal, and oversaw and implemented the industrial relations strategy that led to significant advancements in their enterprise agreement. The work involved advising on unprecedented areas of the law following the longest lockout in Australia’s history, and appearing in nine days of conciliation before the Fair Work Commission.
Ferrovial Agroman (Australia) Pty Ltd
Adviser to Ferrovial Agroman (Australia) Pty Ltd in respect of the Toowoomba Second Crossing Project, and industrial advisor on other construction projects. Toowoomba is the largest infrastructure project in Queensland, and involves the management of a number of stakeholders, and high levels of activity from Workplace Health and Safety Queensland and contractual parties.
Downer EDI
Adviser to Downer EDI on a range of employment and industrial relations strategies across the Group, and transfer of business issues from the award of various service contracts.
Whitehaven Coal
Principal IR adviser to Whitehaven Coal on formative industrial relations matters and safety matters, including developing and implementing the industrial strategy for the Maules Creek mine, acting for Whitehaven in significant operational restructures, advising on a range of enterprise agreement negotiations and providing strategic direction and urgent support to Whitehaven Coal during periods of industrial action, appearing in dispute proceedings and acting for Whitehaven and its senior managers in various legal proceedings.
CFMEU
Successfully defended legal proceedings in the Full Federal Court commenced by the CFMEU (as it was then) in a test case relating to the interpretation of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) concerning the deduction of annual leave on public holidays. As a consequence of the decision, all employers are able to deduct leave taken on a public holiday where the leave is above the statutory minimum.